The pictorial universe of Kukuxumusu is emblazoned on countless sweatshirts and T-shirts across the length and breadth of Spain. A blue bull with yellow horns and a sheep with bulging eyes and protruding ears are just two of the main characters of that universe, whose creators have managed to depict everyday situations in a humorous…

A full report of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law. The French Supreme Court upheld a judgment of the Court of Appeal of Paris that found an individual guilty of reproducing sculptures of Rodin, stating that the infringement of rights in a work that has fallen into the public domain consists of…

The American Vimeo case, decided on June 16, 2016, broadens the exemption for internet service providers (ISPs) in cases of copyright infringement by platform users. Meanwhile, the European Union seeks a narrower approach to excluding ISPs from liability. How do the two approaches differ? The Vimeo case The Vimeo case concerned a collective claim by…

The Conseil d’Etat, the French administrative Supreme Court, ordered the French Prime Minister to take regulatory measures to indemnify the ISPs (Internet service providers) for the costs incurred when the HADOPI Commission requires them to provide information relating to internet users who have or are likely to have infringed copyright law. A full summary of…

The French Supreme Court confirmed that a writ of summons for infringement of intellectual property rights must determine and specify the elements for which protection is sought, as well as the allegedly infringing acts. A writ of summons, such as that in the case at hand, which does not sufficiently describe or identify the work…

The court held that the defendant did not infringe the claimant’s copyright or database rights beyond the infringements already admitted, as none of the defendant’s customers apart from one had access to the claimant’s software. A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law

The Swedish Supreme Court considered under what circumstances, and to what extent, a penalty payment can be imposed on a company that has been prohibited under penalty of a fine from selling an infringing product, where violations to that prohibition have been made by a third party. A full summary of this case has been…

The draft law for the implementation in Greece of Directive 2014/26/EU on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online use in the internal market, which was released for public consultation a few days ago, contains a surprise provision, which has the potential to reverse the…

On 5 March 2015, the Spanish National High Court convicted the administrators of the website Youkioske of an aggravated intellectual property offence and of promoting and establishing a criminal organisation. The judgment can be deemed ‘historic’ since it is the first time that the operators of a downloads site have faced a penalty of this…

“The judgment casts a spotlight on a distinct feature of collective rights management in Germany and the difficulties that may ensue for creators and users of musical creations who want to license such material under an alternative licensing scheme.” The case that came before the Local Court Frankfurt/Main concerned a dispute between the German Society…